RuntheDamnBall

If the position of Honorary Resident Idiot Tough Guy Old Man Has-Been isn't filled, I say sure, bring in Ditka. Also, why would a team that plays in cold weather want late-career Drew Brees? If we had our indoor facility already, maybe. But we don't.

Remember when we improved to 9-7 under Mike Mularkey and then started over? That's what this feels like to me. We don't know where we are at quarterback, at all. We have some talented playmakers being hung out to dry. The play of the offensive line seems to have regressed from where it was a couple of years ago. The defense is very good but being punished and wasted by the offense. Our "heart" guys like Freddy cannot be equalled in effort by a lead-footed quarterback. I'll be glad to see them pull off a winning record and upset NE, but really, after the many winnable games that this team has coughed up, anything below 10-6 is really unacceptable and a grand case of underachieving. And 10-6, the way this team would have assembled it, will probably not be good enough regardless. I can't look at this team and be content with what it is, when we know what it could have been. Not after 15 years of no playoffs.

This.

Wake up.

As a fan of both the Toronto baseball club and the Buffalo football team, this is great news. That playing surface is horrific (I've set foot on it. It's concrete with putting green on top). It'll help the Jays rehab it this offseason so it doesn't kill their players and helps them attract more free agents. Grass in a few more years. The benefits to the Bills are, of course, obvious. That was a terrible location for NFL football in every conceivable way, especially for one of the NFL's die-hard fan bases.

Kind of like a Winfield, part deux, no?

All losses are on the road. 10.5 is home edge of +3, plus a touchdown. Not really too outlandish, honestly. They're not unbeatable but they are going to be extremely difficult for us to beat.

I agree -- it's kind of got to be one or the other, or that Sanchez is actually better. I actually think that Sanchez is a bit better, but in a terrific system that plays to his strengths. And I think even the most ardent Hackett defender would admit that Kelly is about two tiers above.

I'll be interested to see this, because Pettine never struck me last season as a guy who sells out to stop the run.

What's your f---ing point, Walter?

I don't understand how anyone can argue with this, especially since it has become a real pattern. If you have Tom Brady, by all means "do what you do" until they can stop you. But we don't, and Big Cat is admitting as much. I am glad Orton came on in the second half, but it is really a problem to leave points on the board this often.

Can't imagine Brady minds...

This dude looked awesome!

Cocaine is a hell of a drug.

RuntheDamnBall

as usual, a winner like NE or Indy is built to handle the criticism. The Bills? I'm not so sure, esp with thin-skinned Marrone in charge...

Fair enough. I have a problem with the legal system treating it that way, if that's truly the case. If someone assaulted my mom, wife, or daughters, with ironclad evidence to the fact -- and to the pretty cold-hearted nature of the incident -- I'd want him to face some prison time, period. But your points are well-enough made. I simply want society to look at this differently than it apparently does, whether it's the gas station attendant or the high-profile athlete.

I'm certain he had a lot to lose. As would anyone in a high-profile, high-earning position of power. I do ask: whose fault is that? The media did not make the guy punch his GF. And if a fortune 500 exec decked his wife on camera and dragged her outdoors I would also hope he wouldn't get preference for a pre-trial intervention program any more than a poor person would. If I did all of this, I'd surely go to trial, lose my job, and more. You're right, there are two different courts weighing in, here, and I don't think the NFL should have gone any further -- or perhaps as far -- as they did. But if Rice were in jail or at least awaiting trial for this, it would be a moot point, no? This secondary judgment about "how much he had to lose" is pretty meaningless. The person who lost the most is the person who got their skull crushed by a pro athlete in a tight space. If any NFL team wants him because they feel he's served his time and it won't look like a black eye on the franchise, more power to them. If and when this happens, I think plenty of women will feel like abusers are enabled, because they see a shining example of abuse coming back to Jesus and his millions. You're a bright guy and I have to believe you would be skeptical of Rice's redemption story, or that he would be one of the few reformed abusers who never ever does it again. For me, it's because he really hasn't paid his dues from the legal system, end of story. Goodell is fickle and bends with the wind. Whatever punishment he dishes out is not because of any strongly held belief, IMO.

I never said he should be banned and I don't believe he should be.

Well, for one, the argument is being put forth that he has paid his dues (I feel he skated by and I think the optics of a very selective pre-trial intervention for a star athlete are suspect at best). For two, I don't want him on the Bills. Look, if it's ok for people to not want Mike Vick on the team for his crimes, it's ok for me to hold this opinion. You don't have to like it any more than I have to appreciate the need for a few people to be contrarian on all matters no matter how ludicrous. If these are the kinds of guys you want on the Bills, be my guest. If you don't think they'd face a big PR problem were they to bring him on, I'll be happy to make that bet. OJ also ended up having the law on his side but you can guarantee that neither the league nor the Bills would be going out of their way to showcase him after what happened. It would have been financial suicide. Obviously the magnitudes of the crimes are far different, but the risks are similar for any billion dollar business that deals in public perception. I hope Rice never hits another woman again and pulls his life together, and does good in the world. But I refuse to be ridiculed for not wanting him as a representative of Buffalo or the Bills.

I definitely missed the legitimate reason for which a guy who assaulted someone and was caught on camera got a pre-trial intervention deal, one that 1% of all DV cases in New Jersey result in. Care to explain what I'm missing?

Bull sh--. The story didn't make waves because there was no video like there was for Rice. It does not mean no one cared.

I must have missed the jail time that he served, that many normal people would face in this situation. And if the Bills' PR department really wants to field this one, it'll make dealing with the Jills' hygiene questions look like a walk in the park. Not only is Rice not that good anymore, he would be pretty bad for business.

Paraphrasing Roman Mars: In what world does a new Jurassic Park open after all the sh-- that went down?